The organisers of Hard Rock Calling have explained their decision to pull the plug on Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney last night.
Yesterday (July 14), The Boss brought the second night of the Hyde Park festival to a close with a 29-song set which lasted over three hours. His performance featured guest appearances from John Fogerty and Tom Morello and culminated in two duets with Paul McCartney.

The organisers of Hard Rock Calling have explained their decision to pull the plug on Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney last night.

Yesterday (July 14), The Boss brought the second night of the Hyde Park festival to a close with a 29-song set which lasted over three hours. His performance featured guest appearances from John Fogerty and Tom Morello and culminated in two duets with Paul McCartney.

The Beatle joined Springsteen onstage right at the end to perform ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Twist And Shout’. However, the rock legends’ microphones and PA were switched off before they could finish the latter song and thank the crowd because Springsteen had already run over curfew.

The decision prompted consternation on Twitter, with Springsteen’s guitarist Steven Van Zandt leading a chorus of disapproval. He wrote: “Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we’d done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing?”

Explaining the decision, a spokesman for event organisers Live Nation said: “It was unfortunate that the three hour plus performance by Bruce Springsteen was stopped right at the very end but the curfew is laid down by the authorities in the interest of the public’s health and safety. Road closures around Hyde Park are put in place at specific times to make sure everyone can exit the area in safety.”

Before the controversial ending, the show had featured appearances by John Fogerty and Tom Morello. Fogerty played on ‘The Promised Land’ and Morello joined in on the songs from the ‘Wrecking Ball’ album he’s featured on, as well as ‘The Ghost Of Tom Joad’.

The show also included a version of rarity ‘Take ‘Em As They Come’, from ‘The River’ era, which was requested by a fan in the front row. Springsteen has only played this song live nine times before, with the last occasion being on June 14, 2003 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Earlier in the day, Bruce had also joined John Fogerty during his support set on ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’.

As well as the pulling of the plug early, the show was also marred by extremely quiet sound throughout, with many of the 70,000-strong audience complaining on Twitter that they could not hear the show properly.